Carton ejector

ABSTRACT

An improved carton ejector device has been discovered which is capable of ejecting a carton in about 20 to 50 milliseconds without damaging the carton surface of interrupting the regular carton travel. The kicker-arm is designed such that it rotates around a pivoted end and applies a horizontal force against a vertical face of the carton while it rotates. The kicker-arm is moved by a cylinder piston.

United States atent Lyndon Gene Bevins Houston, Tex.

Apr. 21, 1969 Feb. 2, 1971 General Foods Corporation White Plains, N.Y.

a corporation of Delaware Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee CARTON EJECTOR 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

us. Cl 209/74, 209/1 1 1.7 Int. Cl .v B07c 9/00 Field of Search 209/74,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,506,840 4/1970 Fink 209/11 1.7(X) 3.509.996 5/1970 Malik 209/111.7

Primary Examiner-Richard A. Schacher Assistant Examiner-Gene A. Church Att0rneysGerald E. Jacobs, Bruno P. Struzzi and Thomas V.

Sullivan ABSTRACT: An improved carton ejector device has been discovered which is capable of ejecting a carton in about 20 to 50 milliseconds without damaging the carton surface of interrupting the regular carton travel. The kicker-arm is designed such that it rotates around a pivoted end and applies a horizontal force against a vertical face of the carton while it rotates. The kicker-arm is moved by a cylinder piston.

PATENIEI] FEB 2 I97! INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY CARTON EJECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to the detection and rejection of defective cartons in high speed packing lines. More particularly, it involves an improved mechaniam for ejecting the defective cartonsfrom their normal path of travel.

There has been major activity in the field of detecting defective cartons and/or packages on a packaging line. Many of the innovations in this area make use of photoelectric cells to enable defects to be detected on high speed equipment.

The development of mechanical means for ejecting the defective carton has kept pace with the development in the detection area. Often, when a defective carton is detected the packaging line is temporarily stopped to permit manual removal of the defective carton. Methods wherein mechanical removal of the defective carton utilized generally require cumbersome and expensive additional equipment. Such mechanisms often involve sliding a carton onto a removal belt or over a side shoot in such a manner that the main flow of cartons if interrupted just as in the manual removal of the carton.

Also, the use of mechanisms with vertically moving kickerarms have not proved satisfactory in many applications as the canons ejected are literally destroyed in that the surface which is contacted is punctured or badly defaced and the carton cannot be reprocessed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An improved can ejector device has been discovered which is capable of ejecting a carton in about 20 to 50 milliseconds without damaging the carton surface or interrupting the regular carton travel. The key to the successful operation of this apparatus is specially designed kicker-arm. This kickenarm is wedge shaped and installed in a vertical position alongside the packing line such that it can rotate around the narrow end of the wedge which is pivoted in place. The upper portion of the. kicker-arm has the shape of an arc of a circle and the height of the kicker-arm and radius of the are are designed such that, as the kicker-arm rotates down toward the carton to be ejected, a horizontal force is directed against a vertical face of the carton. The width of the kicker-arm can be as wide as the carton and is at least wide enough to distribute the force across a large enough area to prevent the carton from being damaged.

The kicker-arm is activated by a cylinder piston which in turn is activated when an electronic detector activates a solenoid valve controlling the flow of pressurized fluid to the cylinder piston.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a packing line carrying past the apparatus of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the kicker-arm showing features of the geometric constriction and a cutaway view of the clevis attached to an internal rod.

FIG. 3 is a view from the back of the kicker-arm showing the pin being inserted to hold the clevis in place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The carton ejector device of this invention is unique in that the design of the kicker-arm permits the use of a vertical arm traveling at high speeds to eject a carton without damaging the carton.

FIG. 1 shows a packing line 2, carrying cartons 1, past an electric eye sensing element 3, mounted next to a loose tab pickup 4. When the loose tab is detected a signal is sent to the box 5 housing an amplifier, a counter and a solenoid valve. The solenoid valve is activated permitting air to travel through the air hose 6, to the solenoid piston 7. The cylinder piston pushes against the kicker-arm 8, which rotates around its pivoted end 17 ejecting the defective carton. The kicker-arm and cylinder piston are held in place by a mounting 9, which can be quickly disassembled to allow the kicker-arm to be changed when the size of the carton being used is changed. This quick change feature is desirable, as the design of the kicker-arm is the key to the successful operation of the apparatus of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the kicker-arm showing the geometric structure of said arm. The am is in the shape of a wedge A B C formed by two lines emanating from a point outside a circle A. One line A B is tangent to the circle. The second line A C cuts the circle at points D and C, such that C D forms a cord within the circle. The kicker-arm is mounted vertically such that it an can pivot around the opening 10 at the narrow end of the wedge. The upper portion of the wedge is circular in shape and is described by the are C B. The kicker-arm is mounted with the tangent A B facing the cartons and as the arm rotates in the direction shown by the arrow 13, the arced surface of the kicker-arm presses against a vertical surface of the carton.

FIG. 3 shows a rear view of the kicker-arm having a height H and width W. The key to the design is to use a height H and a radius for the arc (shown as R in FIG. 2) such that the kicker-arm will apply a force in a horizontal direction which is perpendicular to the surface of the carton being ejected. Also, the dimension of the width is critical as it must be wide enough to prevent puncturing of the carton as it is being ejected. The most desirable width for the kicker-arm would be the width of the carton being ejected.

In FIG. 2, a rod 12 is shown inserted internally in the kickerarm extending the entire height of the arm. This rod has holes 11 spaced along its entire length. The purpose of the holes is to permit the length of the stroke and the speed of the kickerarm to be varied. The cylinder piston arm 15 used to move the kicker-arm can be fitted with a clevis 14 which can be inserted at any of the holes 11 in the rod 12. The higher the hole is from the pivot point the shorter the stroke of the kicker-arm and the slower the speed of rotation. These adjustments in the placement of the clevis can be used to adjust the action of the arm as the line speed is varied. In FIG. 2, the hole in the side of the clevis is shown lined up with hole 11b in the rod. In FIG. 3, the. pin 16 is being inserted through the wall of the kicker-arm and into the clevis and rod.

EXAMPLE I An ejector apparatus constructed according to the teachings of this invention was used on a rice packing line to eject cartons of loose tabs. The equipment was set up basically as shown in FIG. 1. A photoelectric eye was used to detect the loose tabs picked up by the loose tab pickup. The signals from the electric eye were transmitted to a Farmer Electric Amplifier which had a time delay on and a time delay off action. The time delay permitted the carton to be positioned exactly parallel to the kicker-arm before the arm was activated. The amplifier signal operated a single solenoid, four-way spring loaded air valve, air being used to move the kicker-arm down toward the carton and the spring being used to cause the arm to retract. 28 ounce cartons were carried past the kicker-arm at the rate of 60 cartons per minute with a 1 inch spacing between the cartons. The carton dimensions were length 9 19/32 inches, width 6 13/16 inches and depth 2 9/64 inches. The kicker-arm had the following dimensions height 9% inches, radius of the arc 2 /8 inches and width 2% inches.

The ejector device was capable of ejecting a carton in 20 milliseconds and the ejected cartons were undamaged and could be reprocessed after the defective tab was corrected.

In order to prevent the kicker-arm from being locked in a lower position in the event that successive cartons had defective tabs the amplifier had a built-in repetitive cycle. In the event that successive defective flaps passed by the electric eye the repetitive cycle cut in and automatically raised and lowered the kicker-arm until all of the successive defective cartons were ejected. This prevented a situation which would otherwise jam the operation of the ejector.

EXAMPLE ll The apparatus of example I, with the kicker-arm replaced I by a different sized arm. was used on a line carrying 14 ounce cartons. The dimensions of the cartons were length 7% inches, width 4 11/16 inches and depth 1 31/32 inches. The dimensions of the kicker-arm were height 7 inches, radius of the arc 2"/s inches and width 2% inches.

The cartons were moved past the ejector device at a rate of [80 to 220 cartons per minute. The ejector device was again found to function quickly and efiiciently and to eject defective cartons without damaging the surface.

The foregoing examples were for illustrative purposes only and the scope of the invention is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for ejecting defective cartons comprising a kicker-arm and means for moving said kicker-arm by application of fluid pressure to a cylinder piston; said kicker-arm being in the shape of a wedge formed by the intersection of a tangent and a second line emanating from a point without a circle with said circle the second line passing through the circle such that it forms a cord within the circle at the points of contact, the wide end of said wedge having the shape of an arc of said circle; the maximum width of said wedge being equal to the width of a carton to be ejected, the minimum width of said wedge being sufficient to prevent damaging the surface of the carton to be ejected as it is ejected; the narrow end of said wedge being affixed on a pivot such that the kicker-arm is in a vertical position with the pivoted end on the bottom; said cylinder piston being positioned such that when fluid pressure is applied to the cylinder the piston rod causes the kicker-arm to rotate in a downward direction around said pivoted end; the

height of said kicker-arm and the radius of said arced end of the wedge being selected such that as the kicker-arm is rotated a horizontal force is applied continuously on a vertical face of a carton being ejected, said force being distributed such that it does not damage the face the carton; means for detecting a carton to be ejected; means for activating said cylinder piston and means for returning said kicker-arm to a vertical position.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the kicker-arm can be quickly removed and replaced with another kicker-arm, such that the proper sized arm can be inserted for the particular cartons to be used.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the height of the kicker-arm is equal to the height of the carton to be ejected, the width of the kicker-arm is equal to the width of said carton and the radius of said arced end of the kicker-arm is equal to five-eighths of the width of said carton 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for detecting cartons to be ejected is an electronic scanning unit, and the cylinder piston is air operated, the flow of air being controlled by a single action four-way air solenoid valve.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein a carton can be ejected in about 20 to 50 milliseconds, thus allowing a carton to be ejected without interrupting the regular carton travel.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a rod extends from the pivot end of the kicker-arm along the entire height of said kicker-arm; said rod having openings spaced along its entire length; said cylinder piston having a clevis attached to its end which can be inserted at any of the openings of said rod; said clevis being used to adjust the stroke of the kicker-arm, the stroke being shorter when the clevis is inserted further from the pivot end of the kicker-arm; means for holding said clevis in place at the selected point on the rod. 

1. An apparatus for ejecting defective cartons comprising a kicker-arm and means for moving said kicker-arm by application of fluid pressure to a cylinder piston; said kicker-arm being in the shape of a wedge formed by the intersection of a tangent and a second line emanating from a point without a circle with said circle the second line passing through the circle such that it forms a cord within the circle at the points of contact, the wide end of said wedge having the shape of an arc of said circle; the maximum width of said wedge being equal to the width of a carton to be ejected, the minimum width of said wedge being sufficient to prevent damaging the surface of the carton to be ejected as it is ejected; the narrow end of said wedge being affixed on a pivot such that the kicker-arm is in a vertical position with the pivoted end on the bottom; said cylinder piston being positioned such that when fluid pressure is applied to the cylinder the piston rod causes the kicker-arm to rotate in a downward direction around said pivoted end; the height of said kicker-arm and the radius of said arced end of the wedge being selected such that as the kicker-arm is rotated a horizontal force is applied continuously on a vertical face of a carton being ejected, said force being distributed such that it does not damage the face the carton; means for detecting a carton to be ejected; means for activating said cylinder piston and means for returning said kicker-arm to a vertical position.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the kicker-arm can be quickly removed and replaced with another kicker-arm, such that the proper sized arm can be inserted for the particular cartons to be used.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the height of the kicker-arm is equal to the height of the carton to be ejected, the width of the kicker-arm is equal to the width of said carton and the radius of said arced end of the kicker-arm is equal to five-eighths of the width of said carton
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for detecting cartons to be ejected is an electronic scanning unit, and the cylinder piston is air operated, the flow of air being controlled by a single action four-way air solenoid valve.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherEin a carton can be ejected in about 20 to 50 milliseconds, thus allowing a carton to be ejected without interrupting the regular carton travel.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein a rod extends from the pivot end of the kicker-arm along the entire height of said kicker-arm; said rod having openings spaced along its entire length; said cylinder piston having a clevis attached to its end which can be inserted at any of the openings of said rod; said clevis being used to adjust the stroke of the kicker-arm, the stroke being shorter when the clevis is inserted further from the pivot end of the kicker-arm; means for holding said clevis in place at the selected point on the rod. 